Mechanical directory



G. H. KEYSER. MECHANICAL DIRECTORY. APPLICATION FILED JAN-2,1920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET1 PAN 3 qdm George H Keyser- INVENTO/i' A, T TOI'FNEY G. H; KEYSER.

MECHANICAL DIRECTORY. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2. 1920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Geoi' e if; Keyser 8 g I/VVENTOR f a sa e. H. KEYSER.

MECHANICAL D IRECTORY. 7 APPLICATION FILED IAN-2, I920- 1,373,966. Patented Apr- 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

69 55 MY w @eorge h, lfyser INVENTO)? A TTORNE Y UNITED stars GEORGE HENRY KEYSER, 0F AKRON, OHIO.

MECHANICAL DIRECTORY.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

Application filed J'anuary 2, 1920. Serial No. 348,745;

T 0 allcokom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, GEORGE HENRY Knra citizen ofthe United States, residing see, at Akron, in the county of Summit and Stateof Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Directories, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanically operated device designed to carry alist of names, data or other nformation, any particular item ofwhich willbe presentedauto- V matically by the operation of the device.

The main object of the invention is to provide a device which will holda longstri of sheet'material whereon have been printed or otherwise registered numerous items of information to which instant reference is frequently necessary or desirable so that any particular item thereon will be quickly and automatically presented by mechanical means controlled by the operator.

Another object is to provide'a device of theclass above referred to which will mechanically present a spacewhereon can be written or otherwise registered items: inlings whichform apart hereof and wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, it being understood that changes,

variations, and modifications may beresort ed to which come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended. V

The nature and scope of my inventionvwilil be more fully understood from the following description taken in. connection with the accompanying drawings in which,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of'a device embodying the main features of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the-main working parts of the said device taken with. the top removed,

Fig. 3 is a side elevationof same, having illus portions broken awav to more clearly irate the construction there are employed 'to 1 througoutthe several views, the numeral 1 is used tozdenote a box-like casing and the} Fig.4 is a longitudinal sectional view of said device taken approximately on-line M of Fig. 2." I 5 f Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional viewtaken on line 5, of Fig. 2

Fig. 6 is a transverse se tionalview of the means provided to support the strip of sheet material hereinafter described;

Fig. 7 isa diagram of the .electric wiring employed in-the construction of said device.

meme

Fig.8 is a; view of the gear shifting mechagj J nism employedf Referring now to the drawings specifically, in which like numerals of reference:

designate like parts numeral 2,. the lid of said casing. The numeral 3 ind cates aglass covered openlng 1n said lid adyl rcent one end of said casing.

.The horiz'onal shaft lis pivotally mounted in the adjustable bearingsl5 and 6, one of which is positioned in each side of said casingj Rigidly secured on the shaft 4, in a central position, is thefspool 7. The driving sheave 8 is also rigidly secured on the shaft 4 adja-' centone endthereof and in spaced'relation to the end ofthe spool Thebrake sheave 9 is rigidly fixed on the shaft 1 adjacent the other endthereo-f, in spaced relation to the spool 7 Botatably mounted in thebearings 10 and 11, which are similar to the parts andfG is the shaft 12 on which is rigidly se- V cured the spool 13 which is similar to the spool 7 and is, positioned in alinement therewith. One end-of the spool 13-is grooved around its periphery to provide the sheave,

14. .T he brake sheave 15 is rigidlyfizied on said shaft 12 in alinement with the sheave 9. Attached to the bottom of the casing 1 between the spools 18 and7'is an electric motor 16 which has a drive shaft 17*on' which is rigidly mounted aftoothed collar 18.

The; outwardly evtendingv end of thecollar 18 is provided with teeth which are inclined sheave 19 which'is held against said collar 18 bythe action of the spring 20 against the collar 21 on the extreme end of the shaft 17 f l sheave 19.'are inclined so that'the rotation The teeth in both the collar 18 andfthe of the shaft in-a clockwise direction will j rotate the sheave 19, but the rotation ofthe shaft 17 in a contra-clockwise direction will I disengage the sheave 19 from the collar 18. 11 9 I 10c and adapted to engage the teeth .in the The sheave 22 is mounted on the said shaft 17 on the side of the collar 18 and is-provided with teeth similar to the teeth in the sheave 19, so that the teeth in the collar 18 will engage the teeth in the sheave 22 when the shaft 17 is rotated in a contra-clockwise direction, and will likewise disengage therefrom when the shaft 17 is rotated in a clockwise direction. The sheave 22 is normally held against the collar 18 by the spring 23 operating against the, collar 24 which is attached to the shaft 17. The endless flexible member 26 is operatively mounted around the periphery of the sl1eavesl9 and 8 so that the rotation of the sheave 19 will rotate the shaft 4 and the spool 7. The numeral 25 denotes an endless flexible member which is operatively mounted around the'peripherv of the sheave 22 andthe sheave 14 so that the rotation of the sheave 22 will cause the rotation of the shaft 12 and the spool 13.

Mounted in spaced relation transversely across the top of the casing 1 are the bars 28 and 29. The bar. 28 is provided with a pair of brackets 34 and 35 between which is mounted the member 32, which will be hereinafter more fully described. The roller 7 31 is rotatablymounted between the" brackets lower end thereof being." provided with a.

34 and 35 directly above'and in approximate contact with the member 32. The member 32 has a central portion 33 composed of rubber, wood or other non-conductor of electricity, while both ends of the member 22 are composed of copper,

brass or otherelectric conducting material. The brackets 34 and35. are insulated from the bar 28 by a thin strip of insulating material 70. The bar 29 is provided with a roller30 which is rotatably mounted between the brackets 40 and 41, the axis of the roller being parallel to the axis of the spool 7. A roll of paper, celluloid or other flexible material 36 has one end fixed to and is wound about the core .of the spool 7 and passes over the roller 30 and between the member 32 and the roller 31, the other end of the flexible member 36 being fixed to and wound about the core of the spool 13. The

lid is provided with a circular dial 37 on which are printed or otherwise registered letters, figures or other characters indlcating varlous positions on the flex1ble'mater1al'36;

An indicating hand 38 is mounted on the :vertical shaft 39 which projects through the center of the dial 37, thesaid shaft 39 extending downwardly through the lid 2, the

beveled pinion 42 adapted to mesh with the pinions 43 and 44 which are mounted in spaced relation on a horizontal shaft 45 which in turn is slidably journaled in the sides of the casing 1. The pinions 43 and 44 are'positioned in said shaft so that the longitudinalmovement thereof in 'one'direction will cause the pinion 43 to mesh with the the wheelwhen the shaft is shifted longi-' tudinally as hereinafter set forth. The

pawl 47 is arranged to permit the rotation of the wheel 46 in only one direction. Rig- Y idly secured to the shaft 50 is a horizontal arm 49 carrying an actuating pawl 51 which is normally held in an upward positionby the action of the spring 52 having one end attached to the pawl 47 and the'other end to the pawl 51 adjacent the point where the pawl 51 is pivoted to'the arm 49. Theother end of the shaft 50 is provided with an arm 54 which is rigidly attached thereto and extends horizontally, parallel to the arm 49 The outwardly extending end of the arm 54 is provided with a plate 55 which is normally held in the position shown in 4 by the spring 52. Directly beneath the plate 55 is an electromagnet'53 the face of which is near enough .tothe plate 55to cause a downward movement of said plate when the magnet is operated. A downward movement of the plate 55 will cause a rotary movement of the shaft 50 and thepawl 51 will be moved downwardly. The plate 55 being released from the influence of the 1 magnet, the spring 52 will causethe-pawl 51 to resume its normal position, thus causing a slight rotary movement of the wheel 46, the shaft 45 and the indicating hand 38.

One terminal 'of the magnet is connected 7 to the negative pole of the battery or other.

source of electrical. energy by the wire 58- as shown in the diagram set forth in Fig. 7, theother terminal of the magnet 53 being connected by the wires 59 to the point 57' on one end of the member 32. The other end of the member 32 is connected at 56 by the wire 60 to the positive pole of the bat} tery or other source of electrical energy. The central portion 33-of the member conductor of electricity, it will be seen that the magnet 53 will be operated by closing secured to its, inner surface a plurality of strips of tin-foil or other electric conducting material 62, these strips'bein'g adhesively secured or otherwise fixed to the strip 36 at points indicated by the characters on the 32 being composed of material which is a non-,

dial 37. The shaft 45 is further provided.

with a collar 67 which is rigidly fixed to the shaft in spaced relation to the hub 68, on the wheel 46. A lever 69 is pivotally mounted on a pin7O which'ru'ns at a rightv angle to the shaft 45 and is secured to the frame 7 3, directly beneaththe space between the collar 67 and thefhub 68.v The said lever. v69 is arranged to slidev the shaft 745 longitudinally in veither direction. Po Sihereinafter described, to move in a direce. tion corresponding to the movement of the flexible member36. Likewise when theswitch 7 5 is operated to cause the motor 16 to. wind the spool in the other direction, the magnet 7 2 will cause thelever 69 to shift the shaft 45 in the other direction causing the indi cating hand 38,,when actuated as ,hereinbefore described, to be given a movement cor-' responding to the movement of the flexible,

strip of sheet material 36. i 7

Attached in spaced relation to'the sides ofv the casing 1 are the inwardly extending flexible members 63 and 64 on which isfixed the rod 65, having a collar 66 to-which is attached a vertical rod 74 which extends through the lid 2; the flexible members 63' and 64 being arranged to normally hold the; rod 65 above the, grooves in the sheaves 9 and15. 1

Mounted on thesupport 77 on one" side of the casing 1 is a lever-like member 761 the free end of which is provided with a laterally projecting portion adapted to contact with the periphery of the wheel 78' on the shaft 45. The lever 7 6-is fulcrumed. on the support 77 at 80 and is held againstv the periphery of the wheel 7 8 b the spring 79. The peripheral portion of the wheel 78 is of triangular cross section, the lateral sides. of the wheel converging ,to formqa.

knife-like circumferential edge, sothat the shaft 45, when shifted in either direction, willbe held in that position a-gainstunin-.

tentional movement.

The motor 16 is of the reversible type and is connected to a reversible switch; 7 5 which is operatedby the crank 81 so that when the crank 81 is in the position shown in Fig. 1,.

the current is .not'admitted to the motor, but the shifting of the crank 81 at the point F will connectthe-motor to the source of electrical energy and operateit. in" a forward direction, simultaneously shifting the shafti45 to cause the indicating hand 38 to move in a clockwise direction, likewise the movement of the crank '81 to ,the point 1 R,-

as shown. by the, dotted, lines 111mg. 1, wi11;

.' indicate the-first letter of the list ofnames reverse the; motor 16 and simultaneouslyconnect the electro-magnet -72 with the sourcef of electrical energy thus moving the lever 69 .against the'operating face of the magnet .72 and. shifting the shaft to a position shown in, Fig. 8, thus engaging the pinion 43 with the pinion 42so that the rotation of the shaft 45 by the action of the electromagnets 53 will operate the indicat-z ing hand 38 in acontra-clockwise direction.a75 While one method of wiring my deviceis shown in Fig. 7, itis to be understood that. the device, may be wired byother methods and other types of electrical apparatus may beused. a o .While a device embodyingthis invention is adapted to be used for a large number of purposes,. for the purpose of illustration, 5 I will describe it as being; used-t as-a tele phone directory. On the strip of flexible material 36, there is printed or otherwise 7 registered thenames of telephone users and g the number of each telephone. These names are printed; in alphabetical order beginning with A at one end of the strip of sheet ma- 8 90. terial 36.followed by the names beginning with B, this order being carried throughout the list-of telephone usersyon the reverse side of'the strip 36' a sufiicient number of,

electrical conducting strips 62 are secured'95 j to insure the movement of the indicating hand 38 when the'strip has :beenunrol-led 7 so that, when the names beginning with the letter. B are positioned between the roller 30 and3l, the strips 62 connect the-two ter-aloo minals of the velectro-magnetI 53 operating the hand 38 ashereinbefore described. The 7 strips '62 I are secured to the strip of sheet material36fso: as to cause the hand 38 to;

onthestrip between the rolls 31 and 30.

The'indicating hand 38thus points to the letter corresponding with theflrst letter of V the name of the telephone users as the name 7 1 is positioned before the'window 3., To illus- .110,

trate, if the indicating hand 38 on the dial- 37 is at A'ascshown in Fig. -1 and it isde sired to ascertain the telephone number of the subscriber: whose name begins with R,

the crank 81.is so moved; to ,F which con- 115 meets the motor with-thejsource-of power, and will cause the strip to pass before the window 3, the hand 38 moving iI1,a.clock-" wise direction until it has reached the letter .R, whereupon the operatorturns the crank 81 tothe position shown in Fig. 1 thus stopping the motor, at the same time pressing in they rod 74," which causesthe rod 65 to engage the sheaves 9fand 15 and thus pre venting. the further rotation ofthe spoolsf 13' and 7 by momentumg' As thevdevicei is thus stopped, thenames beginning with the letter Rwill be "positioned beneath the window 3-;so thatthe name and number de-. 0 siredrwlll; be q k y pr sented, t the: openator. If the operator then desires to ascerthe motor in the opposite direction and causes the indicating hand to move in a contra-clockwise direction. I When the hand has reached the point on the dial corresponding to the point desired on the flexible strip, the crank 81 is turned to the position shown in Fig. 1 and the rod 74 is operated, thus stopping the rotation of the spools,

The device may also be used to record names, accounts or other data, in alphabetical or class order, in which case the glass is removed from the opening 3and the names written on the flexible strip. If, for illustration, an account is to be entered against a customer, the proper operation of the de vice will move the indicating hand to the first letter of the customers name and a While I have indicated the above ways in which the device may be used, I do not limit myself to such usage, as the device is adapted to be used for various purposes, in

a great many ways.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a

casing, a strip of flexiblematerial positioned in said casing, a window in said casing, means to move said flexible material longitudinally beneath said window, characters registered on said flexible material in class order, a dial on said casing, index characters corresponding to theclass of the characters on the flexible material, registered on said dial, an indicating hand on said dial and means connected with the movement of said'flexible material to automatically move said hand to points on said dial which indicate the class of characters on said strip as the same is positioned beneat-h the window on said casing. v

2. In a device of the class described, a

suitable support, a pair of rollers mounted on said support, a strip of sheet material wound around said spools and having one end thereof secured to the core of one of said spools and the other end secured to the core of the other spool, items registeredon' said sheet materlal 1n class order, meansto wind said sheet material from onespoolto another, adial on said support, said Chill having characters reg steredithereon to mdicate the classification of (said items, an

indicating hand on said dial, means connected with the means tomove sald spools j the first'letter of the whereby the indicatinghand is vautomatie cally moved to the character on said dial corresponding to the class of items located at a point between said spools. 1

3. In a device of the class described, a

casing, a pair of spools'moun ted in said 0213- ing, a strip of sheet material having one 1 h end wound about said spool, and the other end wound about the other spool, means to" wind said strip from one spool to the other,

a list of items registered onsaid strip in" alphabetical order, a dial mounted on said i casing, letters registered on said dial, an mdicating hand on said dial and means connected with said strip whereby the said hand is automatically moved to letters on Stud dial corresponding to the items on said strip 7 as the same are positioned between said spools.

4. A suitable casing, a .pair of spools mounted in said casing, a long strip of flexlble material wound about said spools, names registered on said strip in alphabetical order,-

a dial mounted"'o-nsaid casing, index letters registered on'said dial, an indic'atinghand on said dial, means to wind said strip from one spool to another and means to move saidhand to the index letters on said dial, indieating, at all times,' the first letter of the 5. In a telephone directory, a suitable caswound about said spools, a list of telephone 1 names positioned betweenthe two spools.

users, with the number of each' telephone' registered on said strip in-alphabetical order, a dial onrs'aid' casing, alphabetical characters registered thereon corresponding to v.

the first letters of each name, an indicating hand on said'di'al, a window in said casing 4 I i and means to roll saidstrip from one spool. to another. andiautomatic means connected therewith to move said indicating hand to the letter on said dialicorresponding withnames presented below; v

I i I 7110 said window. 4 I

6. In adevice of the class described, a support, twoparallel shafts 'rotatably mounted, in spaced relation, on said support, a spool" fixed to each shaft, a motor mounted on said support, means connected with said motor to cause the rotation of one of the spoolsv when the motor is driven in a forward direction, said means adapted to "cause the rotation of the other spool when the motor is driven in the reverse direction; a strip of sheet material wound about said spools, said strip adapted to be wound fromone spoolto the other by the operation of said -mot'or, v classified readingmatter on said strip, electrio conducting material secured to said strip at points adjacent each class, a dial on ing matter, a hand onsaid dial, an electro-' said support, index characters on said dial, each of which indicate a class ofsaid read-- adapted to be connected to a source of electrical energy by said electric conducting material on said strip so as to cause the operation of said magnet as each class of reading material passes between said spools and mechanism associated with said magnet to move said hand to the characters on said dial which indicate the class of reading matter located between said spools, substantially as described' 7 a 7. In a device of the class described, a suitable support, two parallel shafts rotatably mounted, inspaced relation, on said support, a spool fixed on each shaft, a motor mounted on said support, means connected with said motor to cause the rotation of one of the spools when the motor is driven in a one spool to another, by the-operation of said motor, classified reading matter onjsaid strip, a dial on said support, index characters on said dial, each of which indicates a class of said reading matter, a hand on said dial and automatic means adapted to move said hand to the charactersindicating the class of reading matter located between said spools. v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE HENRY KEYSER." 

